Book contents
- Pardons
- Pardons
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Table
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1Pardons and Kingship in Britain, 1066–1788
- 2Pardons in the British North American Colonies, 1607–1775
- 3Pardons in America in the Revolutionary Period, 1775–1787
- 4The Founders’ Pardon Power
- 5Presidential Pardons from George Washington to James Buchanan, 1789–1861
- 6Pardons and Amnesties during the Civil War
- 7Pardons and Amnesties during Reconstruction, Part 1
- 8Pardons and Amnesties during Reconstruction, Part 2
- 9Pardons from the End of Reconstruction to the Eve of World War I
- 10Pardons in the Era of the Administrative State and Global War
- 11The Pardon Process Begins to Wither
- 12Reagan to Obama (1981–2017)
- 13Pardons as Tools of Political Warfare
- 14The Pardons of Joe Biden and Trump’s Second Term
- 15The Law of Pardons
- 16The Law of Pardons
- 17The Law of Pardons
- 18Executive Discretion and the Rule of Law
- 19The Constitution Should Be Amended to Abolish or Modify the Presidential Pardon Power
- Notes
- Index
18 - Executive Discretion and the Rule of Law
Pardons, Presidential Immunity, and Impeachment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 October 2026
Book contents
- Pardons
- Pardons
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Table
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1Pardons and Kingship in Britain, 1066–1788
- 2Pardons in the British North American Colonies, 1607–1775
- 3Pardons in America in the Revolutionary Period, 1775–1787
- 4The Founders’ Pardon Power
- 5Presidential Pardons from George Washington to James Buchanan, 1789–1861
- 6Pardons and Amnesties during the Civil War
- 7Pardons and Amnesties during Reconstruction, Part 1
- 8Pardons and Amnesties during Reconstruction, Part 2
- 9Pardons from the End of Reconstruction to the Eve of World War I
- 10Pardons in the Era of the Administrative State and Global War
- 11The Pardon Process Begins to Wither
- 12Reagan to Obama (1981–2017)
- 13Pardons as Tools of Political Warfare
- 14The Pardons of Joe Biden and Trump’s Second Term
- 15The Law of Pardons
- 16The Law of Pardons
- 17The Law of Pardons
- 18Executive Discretion and the Rule of Law
- 19The Constitution Should Be Amended to Abolish or Modify the Presidential Pardon Power
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Addresses fundamental conflict between unlimited executive discretion and a rule-of-law regime, with particular focus on the decision of the US Supreme Court in Trump v. United States granting presidents either absolute or presumptive immunity for crimes committed in the exercise of official functions and the effective neutering of impeachment as a remedy for presidential overreach or criminality. Focuses particularly on designation of pardon power as a core power for which presidents enjoy absolute immunity and fact that abuse of pardon power is, in theory but perhaps no longer in practice, an impeachable offense.
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- Information
- PardonsDiscretionary Mercy and the Rule of Law in Britain and America, 1066–2026, pp. 468 - 479Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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